Process of impermeabilizing, tightening, or consolidating grounds and other earthy and stony masses and structures



Patented Oct. 27, 1942 ii hit r Y greens PROCESS OF IMPERDIEA'BILIZING,TIGHT- ENING, OR CONSOLKDATING GROUNDS.

AND OTHER EARTHY AND AND STRUCTURES STONY MASSES' Gerrit Hendrik vanLeeuwen, Amsterdam, Netherlands No Drawing. Original applicationSeptember 18,

1936, Serial No. 101,426.

Divided and this application February 23, 1940, Serial No. 320,429. a Inthe Netherlands October 7, 1935 3 Claims.

This application is a division of my co-pending application Serial No.101,426, filed September 18, 1936 which issued as Patent 2,197,843 April13,1940.

The invention concerns a process for improv 5 ing the cohesion of andfor impermeabilizing and consolidating grounds and other earthy masses,such as subcoil sand or gravel layers, natural andartificial rocks,masonry or concrete structures, stone dumpings, pile works and the like,in by filling up and tightening the ,voids, cavities, fissures and suchlike interruptions of the mass. The present process may be applied, forexample, for providing screens impervious or substantially impervious towater and gases in porous and water-bearing. soils, tightening seepingdikes, tunnels or cellar walls, consolidating loose soils, such as thosefor foundations ordike bodies, fixing masses of hog, river beds orshifting sands, tightening cracks and fissures in rock formations,sealing joints in stone-settings and concrete, filling up and unitingstone-dumpings either before, during or after construction, sealingwells or bore-hole Walls, such as in the winningof petroleum oil.

It is already known' for the said purposes to treat the ground or othermass with impregnating agents of various kinds, such as aqueous bitumendispersions, cement or clay suspensions and precipitate-formingchemicals.

The process according to the invention consists in supplying into thevoids of the masses to be treated a substance which is capable ofswelling 'through a solvating agent, the particles of which substanceare coated with a substance re- 3. pelling the solvating agent, theswelling of the said particles beingeflected in the mass under treatmentby attracting, or absorbing, or combining with, or wetting by the saidsolvating agent. I

Where the solvating agent consists of water or an aqueous solution ordispersion, the swellable substance may comprise either inorganic ororganic hydrophile colloids. Among inorganic hydrophile colloids thatmay be used are the more or less colloidal kinds of clays, hydroxides ofpolyvalent metals, silicicpacid, aluminates or other salts capable ofswelling with water or of forming liquid crystals. Among organichydrophile colloids that may be used are polysac-, charides, such ascellulose or starch, gum arabic, agar-agar, lipoides, proteins, such ascasein or albumen, organic dyestuifs and the like. The substancesrepelling the solvating agent, such as water, which are to be used incombination with 55 hydrophile colloids, are particularly oils, such asmineral oils, oil fractions and residues, tar oils and the like. Suchrepellent substances are indi- .cated hereinafter as hydrophobic.

Where, however, the solvating agent congists of organic liquids, such asoils, hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, alcohols, carbondisujphide and the like,'then the swellable substan e may comprise, forinstance, rubber, balata, shellac, drying oil polymerisation products,factis, nitrocellulose, acetyl cellulose, soaps and the like which aretermed hereinafter in this connection as oleophile colloids. In the caseof solvating agents consisting of organic liquids such as oils, whichare used in conjunction with/oleophile colloids as above explained, thesubstance repelling the solvating agent will be an .oleophobic substancein most instances water or an aqueous liquid. I I

The process according to the invention can .be carried out in differentways and with the use of various substances, according to the prevailingconditions and the eifect to be obtained. Some embodiments of theinvention are described hereinafter more in detail.

The swellable substance, for instance, a hydrophile colloid, may besuspended in a hydrophobic substance and the said suspension is causedto penetrate, either together with or without the solvating agent, intothe object or .mass to be treated; similarly use can be made of anoleophile colloid suspended in an oleophobic substance and appliedeither together with or without the solvating agent. I

The particles of the hydrophile or oleophile colloid may also be coatedonly with a thin film, such as an adsorption film, of a hydrophobic oroleophobic substance, in which case a carrier or suspending agent isrequired, which at the same time may act as the solvating agent.

Further, the above embodiments may be combined, when, for instance, thehydrophobic substance going with the hydrophile colloid is the solvating.agent for the oleophile colloid,,and/or the oleophobic substance goingwith the oleophile colloid is the solvating agent for the hydrophilecolloid.

The properties of the hydrophobic substance, when using a hydrophilecolloid, or the properties of the oleophobic substance, when using anoleophile colloid, render it possible to control the rate of solvation.This control may be effected, for instance, by a suitable selection asto the nature and quantity of the hydrophobic or oleophobic substance,in connection with the nature and liquids.

quantity of the respective hydrophile or oleophile colloid, and moreoverthe rate and degree of swelling can be varied by a, suitable control ofthe acidity and the polarity of the substances used, which propertiesmay be altered, if desired, by added substances.

In a special embodiment the hydrophile or oleophile colloid may beformed during the penetration of the treating agents into the mass undertreatment, in which case the rate of formation of the colloid may alsoserve as a controllable factor in the working of the process.

The treating agents according to the invention may be applied accordingto the processes generally used for introducing the known impregnatingagents into earthy or stony masses. As a rule the treating agent oragents may be caused to penetrate into the mass to be treated by meansof pipes, so that a proper impregnation is eifected at the requiredplace, whereby the desired impermeabilisation or consolidation isproduced.

The treating agents may be injected or pumped in under normal orincreased pressure, the pressure applied being, if desired, so high asto produce a widening of the voids with a view to ensuring a moreefiicient penetration of the The mass to be treated may also besubjected, either beforehand or simultaneously,

to a separate treatment for altering its strucv tual reaction formvoluminous precipitates. More particularly, the practicability of saidknown processes may be improved by combining them with the presentprocess. For instance, in carrying out the so-called silicatisationprocess, according to which consolidation and impermeabilisation isproduced by the separate injection of solutions of aluminium sulphate orcal- 'cium chloride, and waterglass, as a rule clogging up immediatelyoccurs at the place of introduction, owing to rapid precipitation.

The process according to the invention may also be carried out bysuccessively injecting mix tures showing different rates of solvation;this may be advantageous, for instance, in those cases where flushingaway of the injected liquids by running water, such as by the groundWater, is to be feared.

In some cases only a temporary tightening or consolidation may be aimedat, which according to the invention may be achieved, for instance, byusing indefinitely swellable substances, such as gums or proteins, whichafter some time are washed out again by water, or organic swell ablesubstances which are liable to decay or lose their structure bybiological, chemical or other actions.

In the following examples some special embodiments of the invention aredescribed, although the application of the invention is not restrictedto these examples. All the percentages and ratios are by weight.

Example 1 For. fixing a river bed consisting of sand the bed is coveredin instalments by a caisson or bell-shaped appliance, the edge of whichis allowed to sink to a certain depth into the sand. A mixtureconsisting of one part of rubber latex and four parts of a mixture ofkerosene and 20% benzene is pumped into this bell on top of the sand.Such a quantity of this mixture is applied as to produce an impregnationdown to some decimetres below the surface of the river bed. Swelling iscaused by the gradual absorption of the oil by the rubber particles. Ifdesired, vulcanising agents, accelerators, fillers, etc, may be added tothe mixture.

Example 2 The cavities existing underneath a sluice withwoodenfoundation are filled up by injecting imultaneously but separately, onthe one hand a mixture of parts of Portland cement, clay or the like and50 parts of a petroleum residue thinned to'a just pumpable consistencyby means of gas oil, and on the other hand 20 parts of a rubber latexdiluted to 20% rubber content, or of a 20% aqueous disperson of ironnaphthenate, aluminium palmitate or the like.

If desired, instead of applying the above compositions separately, alsoa previously prepared mixture of 100 parts cement, clay or the like, 50parts petroleum residue thinned with gas oil and 20 parts of a 20%rubber latex or of a 20% aqueous dispersion of iron naphthenate,aluminium palmitate or the like, may be injected.

By first adding 1% of casein to the latex the swelling of the mass canbe retarded.

Example 3 The joints of a breakwater consisting of piledup, loosegranite blocks, and the hollow, spaces in the stone dumping provided atthe base of the breakwater on the sea bottom are filled up, if desiredby injection through a series of pipes, with a mixture of 10 parts ofrubber latex and of a dispersion prepared by dispersing 15 parts ofbitumen diluted with 15 parts of creosote oil in 200 parts of a 0 .3%aqueous soap solution, to which dispersion 100 parts of a filler, suchas finely ground stone powder, barytes, clinker or the like, are added.

Example 4 In order to cover the bank of a swiftly-flowing river with acoherent stone setting use is made of equal parts of gravel and sand, towhich 10% of a 20% rubber latex and 3Q% of an extract obtained in thetreatment of spindle oil with liquid sulphur dioxide, are added. Thesaid mixture constitutes a readily pourable mass, which is applied withthe aid of gutters on the stone setting and allowed to sink onto thebank and the river bottom so as to produce a watertight protectivecovering.

I claim:

1. A process for improving the cohesion of and for impermeabilizing andconsolidating, grounds and other earthy and stony masses and structures,comprising impregnating the masses with an oleophile colloid in thepresence of a solvating agent adapted to swell said oleophile colloid,the oleophile colloid being surrounded during its introduction into themasses by an oleophobic subtsance.

2. A process for improving the cohesion of and for impermeabilizing andconsolidating, grounds and other earthy and stony masses and structures,comprising impregnating the masses with a suspension of an oleophilecolloid in a solvating agent adapted to swell said oleophile colloidupon contact therewith, the oleophile colloid being covsuspension of anoleophile colloid in a solvating ered, during its introduction into themasses, with agent adapted to swell said'oleophiie colloid upon a. filmof an oleophobic substance. contact therewith, the oleophile colloidbeing cov- 3. A process for improving the cohesion of and ered, duringits introduction into the masses, with for impermeabilizing andconsolidating, grounds 5 a film of a oleophobic substance.

and other earthy and stony masses and structures, comprisingimpregnating the masses with a GERRIT HENDRIK VAN LEEUWEN.

